Lightroom or wait forever for Aperture?

[giulioz]

Is there any reliable indication that Aperture will support the M8 DNG in the immediate future? I am sick and tired to wait for Aperture to support the different cameras that I owned and own (maybe my bad choice of cameras). I ordered Aperture when it was announced. When it came out it did not support my 5D. Then it was terribly slow so I had to update to a faster Macbook Pro. Aperture never supported the raw files from my Sony R1 as it doesn't support now the raw files from the M8, FZ50 and GRD. I tried Eoin's procedure however I would like to have a straightforward official support to my cameras. I am ready to jump to Lightroom but I just would like to avoid that Aperture comes out with an update the day after.

Thanks, Giulio

[DaveEP]

Originally Posted by giulioz

Is there any reliable indication that Aperture will support the M8 DNG in the immediate future? I am sick and tired to wait for Aperture to support the different cameras that I owned and own (maybe my bad choice of cameras). I ordered Aperture when it was announced. When it came out it did not support my 5D. Then it was terribly slow so I had to update to a faster Macbook Pro. Aperture never supported the raw files from my Sony R1 as it doesn't support now the raw files from the M8, FZ50 and GRD. I tried Eoin's procedure however I would like to have a straightforward official support to my cameras. I am ready to jump to Lightroom but I just would like to avoid that Aperture comes out with an update the day after.

Thanks, Giulio

I have both, and find that Lightroom is much faster than Aperture on all of my current hardware (Dual G5, PB15 and MacMini Intel). I really wanted Aperture to work for me, but alas it was never quite up to the mark in terms of speed (and yes I have 6GB of ram!).

If you *really* want to use Aperture, I suggest waiting for the next rev before making any decisions, and meanwhile download the v1.0 trial of Lightroom.

I have heard many people observe that LR is not intuituve, and Aperture is, I have also heard it the other way around - i.e. Lr is more intuitive. What I say is watch the online demos - there are lots (hundreds?) of them, and one you have seen them, things are pretty easy to use....

The things that finally swung me to LR are that it a) supports Leica products and b) is cross platform compatible, so now it does not matter if I need to work on a Mac or a Windows PC, I can use the same application and feel at home.

[stnami]

My guess is that Aperture was made with sports, fashion and schmick commercial stuff in mind, thus the m8 never entered the equation

[Bill Sievers]

I have both. Lightroom is much faster and takes up less memory because it does not create versons.

[DaveEP]

Originally Posted by Bill Sievers

I have both. Lightroom is much faster and takes up less memory because it does not create versons.

.....though it's worth noting that LR 'can' create versions if that is what you want it to do.

[guy_mancuso]

Let's not forget the C1 's new version maybe a lot like Lightroom and Aperture also so there maybe 3 programs with catologing to chose from down the road. No one is exactly sure what C1 has up it's sleve on version 4.0. Need to remember these guys are very good at this stuff and have been around longer than many for raw conversitions. Personnally I am keeping my options open for a little while longer before i commit to ones cataloging system. But just from years of use on C1 , i tend to lean there way anyway. Going to be interesting what shakes out in the next couple months. I'm hoping they give us some clue at PMA show next week on what they intend to do for the public to see

[etherfarm]

Originally Posted by giulioz

Is there any reliable indication that Aperture will support the M8 DNG in the immediate future? I am sick and tired to wait for Aperture to support the different cameras that I owned and own (maybe my bad choice of cameras). I ordered Aperture when it was announced. When it came out it did not support my 5D. Then it was terribly slow so I had to update to a faster Macbook Pro. Aperture never supported the raw files from my Sony R1 as it doesn't support now the raw files from the M8, FZ50 and GRD. I tried Eoin's procedure however I would like to have a straightforward official support to my cameras. I am ready to jump to Lightroom but I just would like to avoid that Aperture comes out with an update the day after.

Thanks, Giulio

Some here and elsewhere have mentioned that a Leica M8 appearance in Aperture is imminent. With Microsoft having just purchased iView and with a strong desire to move to a consolidated workflow (I'm really not liking the mixed C1, LR, PS approach), I'm about ready to move to lightroom just because it's available.

I'll hold out for PMA to see if Apple has any announcements. I'm on the 30 day LR 1.0 trial; I like it so far and might just settle with it.

[mitchell]

Is it certain that C 1 is coming out with a new version? Any time frame? Any word on what's in it?

I like their conversions, hate their documentation and workflow.

I'm hoping Aperture supports the M8, and C 1 comes out before my LR 30 days are up.

Best,

Mitchell

[robertwright]

I think there are some basic differences between Aperture and LR that are significant, but they have to do mainly with the total workflow and not with Raw processing per se. I can make identical conversions 99% of the time in each program, they both do a good job of that with some differences, Aperture has better sharpening and noise control, LR has the great Fill light slider and Vibrance slider etc, but in the end the files are mostly the same.

Where there is a difference is that Aperture was designed as a DAM from the ground up and LR has had it bolted on towards the end of the development. Not to say that eventually LR cannot be better than Aperture, but right now, Apertures handling of projects, folders and all the other features, the web galleries, smart albums, etc is far ahead of LR. There is a feature right now over on Oreilly network where the two are being compared and while each has their pitfalls, image management is becoming the main issue with LR.

I hate that Aperture is balky even on my x800 vid card, dual 2.3 and 4.5 gigs of ram, that is ridiculous in my eyes, LR is so much better in that regard. But at the end of the day, I get more done with Aperture across all my projects than I could do with LR.

My main concern with both programs is that they don't support camera profiles, and I wonder how Aperture will support the M8 given that some will filter and some will not...same with LR, yes it "supports" DNG, but without profile support that is essentially meaningless.

I have been tinkering with Aperture's version of ACR color calibration a la Bruce Fraser, and managed to tweak the rendering of the files using a color checker and munging the r,g,b hue-sat sliders. This may be as close to profile support as we get. When Aperture does release their RAW update we will all see...

[guy_mancuso]

Originally Posted by mitchell

Is it certain that C 1 is coming out with a new version? Any time frame? Any word on what's in it?

I like their conversions, hate their documentation and workflow.

I'm hoping Aperture supports the M8, and C 1 comes out before my LR 30 days are up.

Best,

Mitchell

I will have more info on this after PMA

[iomatic]

I've seen the Aperture team eventually release camera models that work very well.

I'll give them this much; when you do wait for issues (IR, noise, real-world results), they can fine-tune the profile much better than if they released them blindly.

Yes, it's going to suck (I'm waiting for mine to come in.) But Aperture flies on an MBP and is hands down, the best DAM out there for pros (yes, it still sort of sucks that you can't find the image in the Finder "normally".)

[bohtho]

Do you think Digilux 3 will be supported as well ? (If they implement M8 support)

[Woody Campbell]

I don't know whether it is official from C1 but a major new release of C1, probably rebuilt from the ground up, has been expected in the March 2007 timeframe for some time now. Probably around the same time as the release of the new version of OSX.

There is a lot coming down the road at us.

[jrc]

I've settled on Lightroom, though all but one of my computers is a Mac.

C1 feels a little too "pro" to me -- I suspect they will stick to high-end cameras, and while I have a D2x and an M8, I also like to fool around with P&S and home-scanned film. I want a program that is pretty seriously intent on supporting all cameras. Adobe seems to do that, in Photoshop, anyway.

I'm also suspicious of Aperture, because Apple (it seems to me) is becoming more and more a consumer electronics company, drifting further and futher away from being a computer company. I'm worried about what will happen when Ipods and Iphones are driving the company: will they really pay as much attention to updating peripheral programs like Aperture?

The problem is that we're making a choice that might be complicated to undo in the future (even the near future.) I'm not a professional photographer in any sense of the word, but I still have several thousand photos on various computers, and once I finally get them in a single management program, I was the program to stay up-to-date.

I also like the link between Lightroom and PS. I don't like monopolies any better than the rest of you, but it will only be natural for Adobe to syncronize development of LR and PS, and if Aperture doesn't quite fit, that's not Adobe's problem.

JC

[giulioz]

When I got Aperture I basically abandoned Photoshop. Aperture was all I needed in term of management and develop. I hope that the develop section of Lightroom could be even better.

Has anybody already migrated an Aperture library into Lightroom? Any suggestions?

Thanks, Giulio

[Stephen.s1]

Originally Posted by giulioz

.
Has anybody already migrated an Aperture library into Lightroom? Any suggestions?
Thanks, Giulio

I put my Aperture pix on my desktop. Then brought 'em in to Bridge.

As I need 'em in LR, and/or PS, I'll take them from Bridge. When I'm finished, back to Bridge. Works for me.

Aperture, and NX are soon to be history AFIC.

Lightroom/CS3 will do more than I'll ever need.

[woodyspedden]

Originally Posted by jrc

I've settled on Lightroom, though all but one of my computers is a Mac.

C1 feels a little too "pro" to me -- I suspect they will stick to high-end cameras, and while I have a D2x and an M8, I also like to fool around with P&S and home-scanned film. I want a program that is pretty seriously intent on supporting all cameras. Adobe seems to do that, in Photoshop, anyway.

I'm also suspicious of Aperture, because Apple (it seems to me) is becoming more and more a consumer electronics company, drifting further and futher away from being a computer company. I'm worried about what will happen when Ipods and Iphones are driving the company: will they really pay as much attention to updating peripheral programs like Aperture?

The problem is that we're making a choice that might be complicated to undo in the future (even the near future.) I'm not a professional photographer in any sense of the word, but I still have several thousand photos on various computers, and once I finally get them in a single management program, I was the program to stay up-to-date.

I also like the link between Lightroom and PS. I don't like monopolies any better than the rest of you, but it will only be natural for Adobe to syncronize development of LR and PS, and if Aperture doesn't quite fit, that's not Adobe's problem.

JC

I think the truth is that Apple is already driven by the IPod since much of its profits stem from those products and the new IPhone will add to that. Dropping the name computer from the brand is telling as well. However they will continue to product computers for as long as most of us will be around and they have a large commitment to photography so i believe Aperture will continue to be developed. Plus I don't think that Steve Jobs will allow such a product to become a very public failure.

having said all that, I just got Lightroom because I don't want to be tied to Apples priorities which don't seem to include Leica support

Woody

[Eoin]

Hi Giulio,

I understand your pain, I've been playing around with lightroom, I got a copy as an upgrade form Raw Shooter. It has some nice features, I like the curves and the way you can mouse up or down in any area of the photo to adjust that section. It's much faster than Aperture but the colours to my mind are still off with red hues. Either that or it's a M8 thing.

I have no doubt that the M8 will be supported in Aperture and I prefer the known to the unknown so I'll be sticking with the devil I know for the near future.

[Pygoscelis]

I use Aperture but am frustrated by lack of support for Leica and other cameras. However, I really like the integration of the Aperture library with Keynote, Pages and the iLife apps. Is there any application out there that can do the same for Lightroom? - at the moment that is the one thing keeping me beholden to Apple's slow rate of support for raw formats that do not start with Canon or Nikon.

[guy_mancuso]

Originally Posted by Woody Campbell

I don't know whether it is official from C1 but a major new release of C1, probably rebuilt from the ground up, has been expected in the March 2007 timeframe for some time now. Probably around the same time as the release of the new version of OSX.

There is a lot coming down the road at us.

There is a major release coming on C1 and it is version 4.0 and it is a ground up version but release and how it looks is something hopefully I will find a answer to at PMA . I would imagine this would be a good venue for them to announce something if there ready. PMA is a big show like Photokinia and companies usually wait to announce new product at both of these shows. Hopefully we will hear something to the public